Pharmacognosy and medicinal value of some exotic fruits and vegetables consumed in India

Plants have always been a vital source of medicines and other essential products that have been a part of human life ever since time immemorial. Pharmacognosy and its associated aspects have been going through constant evolution and investigation with every generation revealing different and new pharmaceutical properties of plants and their products. The horticulture sector of India has witnessed a great demand of exotic fruits and vegetables in the last decade. These are either imported or artificially introduced in an exotic and non-indigenous habitat. A large number of these exotic plants which are consumed as fruits and vegetables possess a variety of bioactive phytochemical compounds. These bioactive compounds impart them some really important medicinal and pharmacological properties such as anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, hepatoprotective, anticarcinogenic, antiulcerogenic, analgesics etc. This review article is an attempt to briefly address such exotic fruits and vegetables, the bioactive compounds associated with them and their medicinal properties useful to mankind.

Effect of N.P.K. on plant growth, spike yield and flower quality of golden rod (Salidago canadensis) L. c.v. GOLDEN GATE

The present investigation was carried out during Rabi season 2019-2020 at experimental field, Department of Horticulture, Naini Agriculture Institute, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj (U.P.), India. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design with three replications and 12 treatments of GOLDEN ROD (Salidago canadensis) L. C.v. GOLDEN GATE. T1- N:P:K-75:85:70kg/ha, T2- N:P:K- 75:100:75kg/ha, T3- N:P:K-75:110:85kg/ha, T4- N:P:K-75:120:90kg/ha, T5- N:P:K-75:130:95kg/ha, T6- N:P:K-75:135:100kg/ha, T7- N:P:K-75:140:110kg/ha, T8- N:P:K-85:145:115kg/ha, T9- N:P:K- 100:150:120kg/ha, T10- N:P:K-110:160:125kg/ha, T11- N:P:K-125:170:130kg/ha, T12- Control (water spray). Highest plant height (130.3 cm) and plant spread (E-W) (70.7 cm) was obtained from T4- N: P: K-75:120:90kg/ha where as highest plant spread (N-S)(67.27cm) was obtained from T1- N:P:K-75:85:70kg/ha. Highest No. of stocks/plant (15.67), length of the stock (44.13 cm), weight of the stock (56.1cm), no. of days for 50% flowering (82.33) no. of days for 100% flowering (113.0) vase life when kept in water (10 days), vase life of stock when kept in 2% sugar solution (11.67 days) was obtained from T4 - N:P:K-75:120:90 kg/ha as it can be recommended treatment for farmers.

Evaluation of chemical changes in karonda candy during storage at ambient temperature

The studies were based on effect of different recipes on storage period of Karonda candy. The experiment comprised of two types of karonda i.e. green and pink with seed and without seed were stored at ambient temperature. From the findings it was observed that, there was a gradual increase in TSS, acidity, reducing sugars and total sugars content of candy irrespective of fruit colour type and recipes used in experimentation. However, pH, nonreducing sugars, ascorbic acid, moisture, iron content of candy were found to be decreased with the advancement of storage period. The karonda candy prepared from different recipes of sugar concentration of 60 B, 65 B and 70 B can be stored upto 120 days without any microbial count. From the present findings it is concluded that karonda candy with 65 Brix sugar is suitable sugar concentration for karonda candy preparation.